Murder and Suicide in Berwick Street

When a Kensington man was struggling due to being out of work, he shot his wife dead and turned the gun on himself. 

On the evening of 16th August 1900 Hugh Murphy, a 24 year old shipwright, shot dead his wife and then turned the gun on himself at their home in Berwick Street. The two bodies were found a few hours later by Hugh's aunt, who lived in nearby Every Street. A policeman was summoned and the bodies were taken to Princes Dock mortuary. 

At the inquest Hugh's widowed mother Ann told the Coroner that the couple lived with her. She described how they had a habit of getting worse for drinking and quarrelling, but that generally they were happy together. However she also said that in the preceding days Hugh had told her he was tired of life, due to criticism from Florence because he had been out of work for two months. 

In summing up the Coroner told his jury that this had been a terrible occurrence and that Hugh had evidently been suffering from mental depression. A verdict was returned that Hugh had murdered his wife then committed suicide whilst in a temporary insane condition.